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Lifters & Leaners [level: Medium] Matt Carlson: Bio and other works | Jo-Michael Scheibe Choral Series
RELEASED: August 2025
voicing: SAB | catalog number: SBMP1835 | duration: c. 3’01" | price: $2.90accompaniment: piano
A new uplifting piece by best-selling composer Matt Carlson, for developing SAB choirs with piano accompaniment. Set to a unique poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, this work invites us all to reflect on how we relate to one another. Do we ease the way for others, or do we place too much burden on those around us? “Lifters and Leaners” explores these contrasting approaches, encouraging us to lift each other up, and concludes with an open-ended question: Which one are you?
performance by: University of North Texas College of Music - Matt Carlson, conductor [© all rights reserved]
CLICK HERE: See
and Hear
the Complete Score
or download a perusal copy: HERE
CLICK HERE: Read the Text or Poem
The Two Kinds of People
There are two kinds of people on earth today;
Just two kinds of people, no more, I say.
Not the sinner and saint, for it’s well understood,
That the good are half bad, and the bad are half good.
Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Bring each one their laughter and each one their tears.
No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift and the people who lean.
And, oddly enough, you will find, as I’ve seen,
There’s only one lifter to twenty to lean.
Which one are you? Are you easing the load
Of overtaxed lifters, who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner, who lets others share
Your portion of labor and worry and care?
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
(adapted by the composer)
There are two kinds of people on earth today;
Just two kinds of people, no more, I say.
Not the sinner and saint, for it’s well understood,
That the good are half bad, and the bad are half good.
Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Bring each one their laughter and each one their tears.
No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift and the people who lean.
And, oddly enough, you will find, as I’ve seen,
There’s only one lifter to twenty to lean.
Which one are you? Are you easing the load
Of overtaxed lifters, who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner, who lets others share
Your portion of labor and worry and care?
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
(adapted by the composer)
CLICK HERE: Choral Tracks (Practice made simple)
Lifters & Leaners choral track bundle contains a part dominant track for each voice part, a balanced voices track, and an accompaniment track if the work is not a cappella (the accompaniment is also included with the part dominant and balanced voices track). Get more information and listen to samples HERE. Please note that the choral score is not included in the bundle and needs to be ordered separately.
Price: $49.99 (Each bundle is licensed to be used by up to 50 users)
Please adjust the quantity accordingly if you have more than 50 users.
CLICK HERE: Matt Carlson performance notes
This poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox is an opportunity to reflect on how we interact with each other. Do we conduct ourselves in a way that helps make the world easier for others? Or do we put too much of that burden on those around us? Lifters and Leaners explores these two ways of being, inspires us to lift each other up, and ends with an open-ended question. Which one are you?
Wilcox’s original poem is titled The Two Kinds of People. While she places lifters and leaners in two separate categories, we know that people are not one thing or another. We do not live in a binary world. Sometimes we need to be the lifter, and sometimes we need to be lifted. I myself leaned on my colleagues and friends in writing this music and thinking about the meaning behind this text. I hope that this piece can inspire you to consider how you can look out for those around you, and know that everyone needs to lean on their loved ones every so often.
Educational Considerations
Range: This piece was written with a limited range targeted for developing baritone voices, but in such a way that the choir will find this piece enriching and rewarding to sing. Musical variety is achieved through modulations to other key areas, which use a similar range of pitches with a different harmonic landscape. This develops music literacy, aural skills, and vocal technique using pitches that developing voices can sing successfully.
Polyphony: While much of this piece is homophonic, a goal of this piece was to provide opportunities for polyphonic singing in an accessible manner. This builds independent musicianship, provides variety in the musical texture, and gives each section their own important part.
Diction: Great care was taken to set the text in such a way that it can be performed with clarity. Be sure to emphasize the ending constants of the key words “lift” and “lean.” They have the potential to be confused with the words “live” or “lead” if the consonants are not crystal clear. Additionally, the words “not” and “no” at the start of stanzas are critical to understand the meaning of the text.
Questions for Discussion
1. Reflect on the meaning behind the text. How can you lift others? Who has lifted you in your life? When have you needed to lean on someone? Who has leaned on you? How did it make you feel?
2. How does the music reflect the words “lift” and “lean?” Start in measures 33 and 36, then look elsewhere in the piece for similar patterns.
3. This piece quotes a famous composition by Beethoven. Can you find where this happens?
Wilcox’s original poem is titled The Two Kinds of People. While she places lifters and leaners in two separate categories, we know that people are not one thing or another. We do not live in a binary world. Sometimes we need to be the lifter, and sometimes we need to be lifted. I myself leaned on my colleagues and friends in writing this music and thinking about the meaning behind this text. I hope that this piece can inspire you to consider how you can look out for those around you, and know that everyone needs to lean on their loved ones every so often.
Educational Considerations
Range: This piece was written with a limited range targeted for developing baritone voices, but in such a way that the choir will find this piece enriching and rewarding to sing. Musical variety is achieved through modulations to other key areas, which use a similar range of pitches with a different harmonic landscape. This develops music literacy, aural skills, and vocal technique using pitches that developing voices can sing successfully.
Polyphony: While much of this piece is homophonic, a goal of this piece was to provide opportunities for polyphonic singing in an accessible manner. This builds independent musicianship, provides variety in the musical texture, and gives each section their own important part.
Diction: Great care was taken to set the text in such a way that it can be performed with clarity. Be sure to emphasize the ending constants of the key words “lift” and “lean.” They have the potential to be confused with the words “live” or “lead” if the consonants are not crystal clear. Additionally, the words “not” and “no” at the start of stanzas are critical to understand the meaning of the text.
Questions for Discussion
1. Reflect on the meaning behind the text. How can you lift others? Who has lifted you in your life? When have you needed to lean on someone? Who has leaned on you? How did it make you feel?
2. How does the music reflect the words “lift” and “lean?” Start in measures 33 and 36, then look elsewhere in the piece for similar patterns.
3. This piece quotes a famous composition by Beethoven. Can you find where this happens?
This score is available in Printed or ePrint format at checkout
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